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A court has handed prison sentences to multiple former and current elected officials affiliated with the Democratic Party in connection with the Moon Jae-in administration’s suspected interference in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election.

The court’s acknowledgment that Blue House officials systematically intervened in the election to help elect a figure friendly to the president is expected to have widespread ramifications.

A criminal panel of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Baek Won-woo, who served as senior secretary to Moon Jae-in for civil affairs, to two years in prison for violating the Public Official Election Act. Park Hyeong-cheol, the former presidential secretary for anti-corruption, was sentenced to one year in jail, on the same charge.

The court handed sentences of three years each to former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho, and serving National Assembly member Hwang Un-ha, on the same charge of violating the Public Official Election Act. Hwang faced an additional count of abuse of authority/obstruction of the exercise of rights.

Song Byung-gi, a former vice mayor of Ulsan under Song Cheol-ho, was also sentenced to three years in prison. Both were allowed to leave court without being detained immediately.

The election interference case involves allegations that the Blue House systematically intervened in the run-up to the 2018 local elections to help then-Democratic Party candidate Song Cheol-ho, a longtime friend of former President Moon Jae-in, win.

Prosecutors believe that Song Cheol-ho and others asked Hwang, then-chief of the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency, to investigate then-Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon (now leader of the People Power Party) in September 2017, and went on to ask the Blue House to investigate.

The court found Baek and Park guilty of having tipped off the police and received reports on the progress of the investigation. Hwang was also found guilty of having improperly taken personnel actions against police officers who were lukewarm about the investigation into Kim.

“The defendants abused their positions at the apex of public power to improperly use the investigative function of the police and the supervisory function of presidential secretaries for the political benefit of a particular person or a particular party,” the court said in its verdict. “There is great public interest in the need to firmly punish those who make private use of the police and presidential secretaries for their own political benefit.”

However, Democratic Party lawmaker Han Byung-do, who was accused of offering a public office to Song Cheol-ho’s rival for the Democratic nomination in exchange for dropping out of the primary race, was acquitted.

Jang Hwan-seok, a former senior administrator in the Blue House office of the secretary for balanced development, and Lee Jin-seok, a former presidential secretary for social policy, were also cleared of charges for allegedly orchestrating the timing of the announcement of the withdrawal of the preliminary feasibility analysis for an industrial accident hospital, a key campaign promise of Kim Gi-hyeon.

Song Cheol-ho announced his intention to appeal, saying, “The court has only listened and accepted the prosecution’s biased arguments.”

Hwang also pleaded not guilty, insisting that solicited or commissioned investigations “never took place.”

“The police conducted routine investigations,” the lawmaker said.

“We need to find the mastermind behind the scenes,” said Kim Gi-hyeon, while speaking to reporters at the National Assembly on the same day. “Investigations into former President Moon, Lim Jong-seok, and Cho Kuk should be resumed.”

Hwang was sentenced to lose his seat in parliament, but with around six months left in his term, it is unlikely that his sentence will be finalized before then.

Song Cheol-ho, who was indicted in January 2020 and whose trial lasted three years and nine months, managed to complete his term in June 2022 without interruption.

By Lee Ji-hye, staff reporter; Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

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